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Rick Scott asks Sec. of State to talk reform with county election officials

Gov. Rick Scott has asked Secretary of State Ken Detzner to begin meeting with county election officials to discuss potential election reforms.

The meeting comes on the heels of last week’s election, which saw up to six hour lines in some areas, and Florida not finishing its statewide vote count for days after the Nov. 6 election day.

“We need to make improvements in our election process,” Scott said in a release. “If even one Floridian has lost confidence in our voting process, we need to do whatever we can to make sure that confidence is restored.”

Issues that will be discussed are long wait lines, why some South Florida counties were unable to report preliminary absentee ballots in a “timely manner,” and why St. Lucie County needed to retabulate its original election day count.

On Tuesday, incoming speaker of the House Will Weatherford told reporters that one of his top priorities is making changes to the election law to remedy this cycle’s problems. He has resurrected a committee that, in part, is tasked with looking at election reforms.

If election reform legislation gets momentum, it would be the second time in the past three legislative sessions that lawmakers have overhauled the system.

In 2011, legislation was passed that, in part, reduced early voting days and required those who change their address at the polls to fill out a provisional ballot. Groups that opposed the legislation blamed it for many of this year’s issues.